Disclaimer: Soul Eater, not mine. Mary's song by T-swift, not mine. Bored and lazy scribbles, definitely mine.
I was seven and you were nine
I looked at you like the stars that shine
In the sky
Like pretty lights
Vibrant blue hair swayed with every move of the boy they belonged to. He rained down a couple of punches on the sack dummy right into the red mark painted on the middle. It hardly made any dent. He frowned. That won't do.
Stepping three steps back, the boy used the small distance as a momentum to jump, kicking the target with all of the force he's got, all the while screaming, "Yahoo!" as he pounded on the dummy.
The target bent backwards with the pressure of the kick. He had one second to cackle at his triumph before the target ricocheted and proceeded to knock him in the face.
The boy fell down groaning loudly, blood dripping on his nose. There might also be a tooth lost in the process. And a few tears.
'Stupid Dummy,' he thought in disdain. 'I'll get you for this.'
A sound of two pair of hands clapping made him look up from the ground.
There was a little girl in a pink dress with twin tails held by two red ribbons looking down at him with stars in her eyes, mouth curved excitedly.
"That was awesome!"
He stared at her for a moment. There were definitely stars in her eyes.
He gave her a toothless grin.
A pebble hit the pond, water creating a small splash. Ripples followed right after.
She was tiny, Maka thought with a pout. She was already ten years old but she was still so damn tiny.
She was the thinnest and one of the shortest in their class. Her marks, no matter how much she studied for written exams, were low in Battle class.
At this rate, she would never pass for the advanced classes and she'd never qualify for a Meister Position, much less be like her amazing mama.
Her legs still hurt from the ten laps around Death Academy.
Her classmates were such jerks too. Laughing and pointing at her when she finished last. Especially Ox-kun. She never wanted anything more than to pull out his little antennas.
You'll never be a meister.
You're better off as a weapon, with all your sharp bones I bet you'll have no trouble slicing a kishin with your elbow.
But, Maka held back tears pooling in her eyes, they had a point.
Meisters were usually the beefy type, muscled and buff. Her own mama, although had a light frame was toned and built. That's why it was usually boys who were meisters. Soul Perception wasn't enough to qualify. The body type is also (more-so) important.
She threw another rock creating a splash.
Another rock followed it, in her surprise, making a bigger splash. Maka turned to follow the direction from where it came from.
"Yo, nerdling!"
Great. Just what she needed; more taunting.
"Go away, Black Star. I'm not in the mood."
He threw another rock and stood beside her.
"What? You wimpy enough you can't stand my mere presence? Then again, a god like me probably make you wither away. After all, I'm super awesome. Nyahahah!"
Maka will forever regret the day she called his move 'godly' when they were kids. He stuck to the god obsession after that.
She ignored him.
"Hey, Maka. Nerdling." Nope, not falling for it. "Fishbone! Duckling! Weakling!"
She just further turned away from him.
"Heh, guess you're all talk." Her eyes narrowed at his cold tone. "Your mama must be so proud to have you as a daughter. Coward."
That. Was. The. Last. Straw.
Maka turned swiftly, aiming a punch on his face.
He caught it with his hand easily, using his other hand to punch her in the gut. Her breath caught. She trembled slightly and fell on one knee.
"Tch. Is that it," he sneered down at her. "Kishins will eat you alive before you could even get a weapon."
Her nose flared, her eyes narrowing to slits before she flew to her feet, aiming another punch. He quickly dodged and threw a right hook on her face.
She fell again, cheek throbbing. Damn it hurt. She can taste blood in her mouth.
Maka stayed at the ground, Blackstar peering at her coldly.
How lame.
"Not even gonna get back up. Heh, better stay at home and let us meisters protect your weak ass."
In a swift move, Maka kicked the boy on the legs, making him stumble. He gasped in surprise before she went and tackled him to the ground as hard as she could.
She punched him solidly on the face.
"I..." Another punch. "am…" And again, harder. "a meister!"
She stopped, breathing heavily on top of him. She hauled him upright by his collars, eyes green and teeth gritting with wild anger. "Don't you ever forget that."
He grinned largely at her, his cheeks throbbing.
"You too." Huh? "You keep forgetting. Don't ever forget that too. No matter what those jerks say, you're gonna be a meister and surpass your mama right?"
Her eyes went wide, surprised. Her hands slacked, his collar slipping from their grip.
She simply stared at him, mouth agape in surprise. Black Star continued grinning.
A small laugh escaped her. And then another. Before she knew it, she was full-on cackling like an idiot. He followed, his body shuddering with his laugh. She laughed until her voice was sore, tears spilling in her eyes.
He laughed with her until the sun fell.
The pond remained calm.
"Take that back, Maka!"
"Heh," she smirked at him, "I will if it isn't true."
She was pushing it, but she can't help it. He was pissing her off. Maka knows she should know better but Blackstar and Soul were somehow more irritating today.
"I am not!"
"Yes you are! You talk big about women and boobs all the time but you haven't even been kissed ever. Noone even likes you-likes you!"
"Well, what about you!" He looms over her, pointing at her accusingly. "You've never been kissed too!"
"So, you admit you're like me then?" Maka simply glances from her book, sparing him a smirk, happy for once that she's having the upper hand.
He seethed where he stood, blushing in embarrassment. "What about Soul? He's never kissed too!"
Soul sputtered incoherently beside her, Maka only smiled haughtily, "Soul's got love letters daily. Six of them today."
"Everybody's just too lame to give me!"
"Or you're too lame for anybody."
"Why you…"
"I bet you wouldn't even know how to kiss a girl even if someone did like you!"
BlackStar bristled. "I can too!"
"Not."
"Wanna bet?"
"Sure." She shrugged, sure she won this one already.
Black Star stepped closer to her. She met his glare with confidence. Whoever he tries to kiss would be a poor sucker. Probably Tsubaki-chan.
She was confused when he stepped yet closer. Then, surprised when he held her face in both his hands. And admittedly stumped stupid when he leaned in.
She was unfrozen when she felt a hand tug at the back of her blouse, yanking her away from the boy. She looked back to see her weapon glaring at Black Star, irked.
"What the hell, Soul! I was about to finish the bet!"
"Go do it with someone else," Soul grunted irritably.
"But I can't suffer alone! Maka's gotta suffer too!"
"What," she screeched, finding her voice, blushing red, "that doesn't make sense, idiot!"
"You started all this," he said, inching closer again, "you finish it!"
He glomped at her. She yelped, dodging him and hid behind Soul. Maka can hear Liz laughing, and Patty singing K-I-S-S-I-N-G.
"Dude, not cool." Maka can feel Soul's arm hiding her behind him. "Leave her alone. Just pick someone else."
BlackStar's eyes were shining, and Maka thinks she might have personally given him a scythe to kill her with. "No can do! You talk big, but can't deliver! Prepare yourself, nerdling! A god's lips are about to descend upon you lowly mortal!"
She squeaked in absolute terror before she ran as fast as she could. He ran after her, cackling evilly as he went.
Liz was on the ground, clutching her stomach in laughter as Patty continued singing, galloping around her fallen sister.
Tsubaki sighed. Soul actually paled before he jogged to their direction in increasing speed. Tsubaki followed.
They later found Black Star in an alley with a book halfway embedded in his skull. It took a while and a lot of manly crying before Tsubaki managed to pry the book off of his head.
He was still bowing his revenge, and the completion of the bet when Tsubaki knelt down next to him and pecked him lightly on the lips, shutting him up effectively.
Black Star was quiet for the rest of the week.
Black Star flew five feet away from the chaotic brawl of Shibusen students (and teachers), hearing Tsubaki call after him worriedly but her shouts were muffled when Kim suddenly landed on top of her mid-run.
Kilik sure has been getting a lot of good training to be able to kick him that hard. Black Star grinned, sitting up from where he fell; ready to launch back to the brawl when he caught sight of two silent figures on the stairs of Shibusen in his peripherals.
He looked. It was them. Maka and Soul.
He stopped short, relaxing back down for some unknown reason. His fight left him like a candle put out.
They were just sitting there, nothing out of the ordinary and yet-
A barrier, he thinks.
There's a barrier. Another world. From all of shibusen to those two, meister and weapon: Maka and Soul.
Somehow he feels like there's something big starting at this very moment, something life-changing, something that would go down the history books.
He can't even think of doing anything else other than to watch it unfold. He doesn't know what he was waiting for, but he knows it's gonna be awesome. Something far brighter than he could ever hope to be.
"I KNOW!" Suddenly, Maka shoots upright, her face red as her partner's eyes that were focused on her form, warming fondly at her.
"...Then let's say it together," she starts, and for the first time in his life Black Star starts to see a faint light starting to spark from her chest. "To Chrona!" The light brightens. "We'll make the Kishin realize it as many times as it takes!"
Fire. It's on fire.
"We'll show everyone! Throughout this world!" Maka's eyes grows with her smile. "This courage!"
Wings from her angelic soul unfold before his very eyes.
He's breathless.
"This resonance!"
Her soul bursts into lights, enveloping her entire being, igniting every soul it came to contact with as they light up before him one by one.
Souls, he realizes, I can see souls.
It's as if he's seeing colors for the first time. He sees his best friend's soul beside hers, glimmering proudly.
Maka gazes up at the sky with her arms stretched beside her, her soul's wings envelope them as if she's getting ready for flight.
She's absolutely breath-taking.
He looks around to see that the brawl had died out and everyone was exactly like him, gazing at this beacon of hope and courage in wonder. He could see their souls twinkling with the same contagious fire from hers, all of them burning brighter every second.
He tears his gaze away from Maka and looks up towards the blue sky she's gazing upon, the same blue sky hiding the madness of the blackened moon.
'The Kishin better get ready,' Blacks Star grins maniacally as he feels her courage spreading into his own soul, ''because he's gonna get a concussion of a lifetime. Via Maka-chop.'
He found her on the clearing.
The same one from when they were kids. It was the same. The trees looked like they haven't aged from the twelve years since they've been here. The pond still looked eerie calm, the air has the same nostalgic scent of peace.
The difference was the girl. He smiled despite himself. A woman now, sporting a beautiful red dress, the one Tsubaki picked for her to wear on her oath-taking as a three star meister, sat in place of the unsure girl, strong and proud.
But, he sighed, the same doubt was still in her eyes. Maybe not so different, afterall.
He neared her.
"I love Papa, you know," she started not even looking at him. He stopped short. "I love him. Even though he cheated on mama. Even though he always go whoring around. Even though he lets me down. I love him."
She turned to him, and he can see the same gleam of doubt in her eyes. There was no confusion though; only hesitance.
"And that's why he'll always hurt me. I love him. That's why he can hurt me."
He frowned, doubting a punch to the gut was the answer to this one.
He stayed silent. She did too. They stayed, both not knowing how to proceed.
After some time, Black Star bent down to pick up a rock and threw it at the water. It broke the ice.
"You ran away." She ran away.
Maka breathed out, stressed and apologetic.
"I'm sorry," her voice was the smallest it's ever been.
He sighs too, as if replying his forgiveness and understanding. He moves to sit beside her. He idly remembers that this is the same spot she beat his lights out.
How ironic, he thinks. She faces him and the Kishin with a proud soul and a fierce glare but she runs for the hills the moment she's shown a hint of the binding unknown.
'Another mountain, another fear to face, huh Maka?'
But Black Star doesn't think a fist to the face or an armour of blackblood and madness can ever defeat this particular fear of hers (her worst one). The same goes for his presence here (hell the talking cat would've been better) but well, he could try. Maybe they'll find the answer together.
How do you fight the one you fear most?
"It's not always gonna be like that you know. Love…" She looked at him imploringly. He blushed at the green eyes boring at him. Try… "it's not always gonna hurt you."
Maka threw a rock into the pond.
"And you're way stubborn to let anything push you around too much anyway. I bet you'll kick it in the butt if it ever tries to hurt you again."
She looks at him. It's the same grin. And then, it's the same courage coursing through her again. She returns it with a smile.
"Hmmm," she shuffles closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"A-and ya know, it's not like you've got a choice, ya know. Love's not some wimpy thing you can just toss aside 'cause you don't like it. It's like the strongest emotion in the world… like me! Love is awesome like me!"
She chuckles. "You're right."
"I'm glad you understand, nerdling." He rests his head on hers. "Now go back there. I bet Soul's still on his knee with that ring. I think Patty wanted to take a picture. Or maybe she's painting a portrait by now."
Maka laughs and then somewhat sadly, looks at the water. "Do you think he'll still want to marry me after I ditched him in front of all newly registered three star meisters, their weapons and probably the entire Death City?"
Black Star laughs. "Of course. Soul's my minion so some of my coolness rubbed off of him. That and he thinks you're shinier than the sun. He never cared for anyone else's opinion. I doubt he'd start now."
He watches her eyes warm at the thought of her weapon. He smiled, knowing she had an answer to Soul's question long before he came here. All she needed from him was a little push. An affirmation to what she already knows.
She stands up, dusting grass from her red dress and fixes him a confident grin. He can see her soul through her eyes, twinkling happily.
"I'm going back then. I've got a fiancé to kiss." She runs towards the exit of the clearing before she pauses. "Thanks, BlackStar."
He cackles loudly, breaking the silence of the small forest. "Your god just heard your whiny prayers! I'll expect grovelling from now on!"
She stuck her tongue out at him before she resumed running.
He watched her retreating figure, her red dress swaying around her. His admiration for her grows impossibly stronger with every step she took closer back to Death Hall, even after she's gone from his sight.
There was no black blood and madness on her back to fight this fear with and still she races to face it head on.
She found something better, huh.
Peace returned to the clearing. And he grinned at realization that Maka had just taught him something again.
His mind flashed back to Kid's inauguration, the first time he saw her soul, the spark that ignited everything, the one that creates courage.
Black Star thinks he knows what it might be now; the answer to the question they were searching for.
He stood up, dusting his suit, a badge similar to Maka's three stars also sat on his right chest.
Love, he thinks, is a better weapon than madness to conquer fear.
He thinks back to the pigtailed girl in the pink dress who looked at him in awe as he lay on the ground; beat up by a piece of sack.
"You're awesome, too nerdling."
And I'll be eighty-seven
You'll be eighty-nine
I'll still look at you like
The stars that shine in the sky
Oh my, my, my, my